2023 House Bill 4559

Criminal procedure: sentencing; penalties for certain crimes of imprisonment for life without parole eligibility; amend public health code to reflect potential resentencing.

A bill to amend 1978 PA 368, entitled “Public health code,” by amending section 17764 (MCL 333.17764), as amended by 2004 PA 214.

House Fiscal Agency Analysis

House Bills 4556 to 4560 would prescribe procedures for hearings to reconsider the sentences of eligible incarcerated individuals who have served at least 10 years of a sentence or sentences for a conviction or combination of convictions. The package of bills, taken together, is known as the Second Look Sentencing Act. House Bill 4556 would provide guidelines and procedures for an incarcerated individual to petition the court for resentencing, the timing and other requirements for a resentencing hearing for an eligible individual, and criteria to be considered in a resentencing determination, among other provisions. The bills would amend several mandatory provisions that now apply to sentencing and parole eligibility under certain circumstances (e.g., requiring life without parole eligibility for specified offenses) to provide that those provisions do not apply to a resentencing under HB 4556. The bills also would provide for victim notification of a resentencing hearing. House Bills 4557 to 4560 cannot go into effect unless HB 4556 is also enacted.